Neck-yoke fastener.



No. 694,202., Y Patented H525, |902.

A c. m. scHANz. 'l NECK 'YKE FASTENER..

(Applicgtion tiled Oct. 1, 1901.)

(No pdei.)

UNITED' STATES PATENT Crricn.

CONRAD IWI. SCHANZ, OF CHELSEA, BIIICHIGAN.

NEoK-YoKE FASTENER.

Application iiled October l To all wwntz' may concern: v

Be it known that I, CONRAD M. SCHANZ, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chelsea, in the county of Washtenaw and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Neck-Yoke Fastenings, of which the followingis aspeci- 'lication, reference being had therein to the accompanyingr drawings.

This invention relatesto an improved neckyoke coupling for wagon-tongues or carriagepoles, the object being to provide a neck-yoke fastener which can be produced at the minimum of cost, which shall have no springs or small fragile parts incident to it, which can be readily applied to any tongue or pole now ordinarily constructed, and which shall offer no breakable projecting parts that will be endangered when the pole drops to or moves along the ground in either direction.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sufficient portion of a wagon-tongue, illustrating the manner of applying my improved neck-yoke fastener. Fig. 2 is a bottom view thereof. Fig. 3 shows the parts in the positions occupied when the neck-yoke ring is to be released.

In the drawings, A indicates the tongue or, pole of a vehicle secured to the latter in any ordinary or suitable way, projecting forward therefrom. This is ordinarily formed of Wood and lgenerally tapers from the rear end toward the front.

B represents the neck-yoke, which is connected in the usual manner to the harness of the horses and is provided with a ring C at its center that is loosely connected to the tongue.

Vhen the parts are in position and the horses are attached, the tongue is frequently subjected to violent movements in various directions,and' these whippings or j arrings are transmitted to the ring C, and unless proper provision is made there is liability of accidental detachment ofthe latter. It is desirable to overcome this and at the same time allow for an instantaneous removal of the ring C from the tongue when necessary.

To guard against the escape ot' the ring forward--that is, by movement outward` on the tongue-I employ the automatically-acting lock D, and to prevent it from slipping SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 694,202', dated February 25, 1902.

1901. serial No. 77,251. (No modem' too far backward I employ a stop formed upon the part (indicated as a whole by E) which serves to reinforce the tongue at the front end and prevent its breakage and relieve it from wear and cutting, the said part which prevents the backward slipping ot' the yoke-ring C being indicated. byE'. The part D comprises the stop-finger proper, d, the inclined carrying-arm d', the hinging part d2, and the stop-lug d?. This front stop device t'or the ring is so constructed and arranged as to obviate entirely the necessity of springs or any supplemental parts for insuring its normally remaining in an operative position, the hingi n g part at d2 being thrown as .far forward as possible,and the stop-linger d is made heavy and being at the extreme end of the inclined arm d tends to drop into its operative position at all times to prevent the escape of theV ring. This can be applied to any of the ordinary tongues or poles, merely requiring the boring of a small hole upward from the under side of the tongue, which can be accomplished under almostf any ordinary circumstances, it requiring no special tools.

In most of the neck-yoke holders which are at all similar to mine With `which Iam acquainted either the entire front stop has been of the nature of a spring, being formed of elastic metal throughout and requiring the cutting away of a large part of the wood of the tongue or pole, or else has been so constructed and arranged that supplemental spring parts are necessaryfor the insuring of the proper holding of the stop in the position Where it would prevent accident-al displacement of the ring.

The part E above referred to has the upper concave-convex plate e, the lower plate c fitted tothe curved top and bottom surfaces of the tongue, and has also a strong curved front loop e2 and the downwardly-turned stop-loop E', these parts e, e', e2, and E all beingmadeintegral. The loop part ezatthefront is of thick heavy metal, capable of standing much strain from jars and shocks, and it is to this that I hinge or pivot the stop device C; but to relieve the` hinging devices of too severe blows or shocks I pass the stop-iinger d up through an aperture at e3 in the bottom guard-plate e and adjust the parts so that the pin or arm d will bear against the for- IOO ward wall of this aperture, and thus provide the pin or finger d and its carrier d d2 with an abutment which takes the strain at the most advantageous point-to wit, at the end of the finger. l

By examining Fig. lit will be seen that the ring is held between the front stop'e and the rear stop E", and that as the latter never requires any movement it can be formed at once by properly bending the bracing or guarding plate e.

To hold the pin or finger d in proper position and prevent its upper end from escaping from the aperture e3 inthe'plate e and from the socket a in the tongue, I provideI the holder, which is preferably integral with the arm d and so related to the other parts as'to impinge against the loop e2 when the pinor finger is in the operating position.

When it is desired to remove the neck-yoke and its ring from the tongue, it is merelynecessary to push up on the finger d or arm d' or pull down on the stop-arm d3, this action carrying the stop-finger up far enough to permit the ring to pass over it. When springs of any efficiency are employed, they require considerable power to elevate the stop part against their resistance, and, moreover, are constantly liable tobe broken and to become clogged with soil and foreign materials, and inasmuch as the heavy wagons, ditching-machines, excavating-machines, and the like to which this invention is particularly -adapted vare apt when in use to beat a distancefrom blacksmith or other repair shops m uch inconvenience is incident to the use of devices which depend upon elastic holders.l My improved front stop D can be readily applied to tongues having guarding aud bracing parts substantially similar to that at D, there belng merely required the forming of a hingepin aperture d2, thev small socket a in the Y wood, and the aperture e2 in the plate e.

A eS in plate e', substantially as set forth.

2. A device for strengthening the front end 5 5 lofa vehicle-'pole and fastening a neck-yoke thereto, having the bracing and guard part E formed of the upper and lower platesV e e joined by the front loop e2, the lower plate e being bent down to vforin the back stop-loop E', and said plate e' havingla-n-aperture e3 in front of the loop E', the-swinging armd hinged to the front loop e2,the` stopearm d3 engaging with said loop, and the stop-pin d normally held by said arm d' with its upper end in the aperture e3, substantially as set forth.

3. In aneck-yoke fastener, the combination of a plate adapted to be fit-ted on the vehiclepole, having a downward projection to hold the harness-ring from backward movement and formed with the'aperture e3, a stop-arm for holding said ring from forward movement, said arm being hinged at its forward end to the plate to move toward and from the same, and having a rear` linger extending toward the plate and into said aperture, and means for holding the end of the finger within the aperture when the finger is in operative positior'to retain the harness-ring.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CONRAD M. SCI-IANZ.

Witnesses: l

CHAs. H. SMITH, HENRY FREDERICK VOGELBACKER. 

